Athur and Eames
by ViolinRemix
Summary: Arthur hates Eames, he hates how annoying and irritating he is. And yet when they're forced together things begin to change...
1. Chapter 1

Arthur hated him. To put it lightly. The very concept of Eames annoyed him to no end, and now Cobb wanted him to work with him; seriously? He had argued with him, pointing out that it would be a waste of funds to go to Mombasa, but Cobb had pointed out that he needed to go there to recruit Yusaf and besides, Saito was funding the trip anyway. Arthur threw his arms up in exasperation, why wouldn't Cobb listen? Having Eames around would be a mess, he was pompous, self absorbed and, above all, annoying. The last time they had worked together it had nearly ruined to target and the point man had almost wound up in a coma, all thanks to Eames. Arthur sighed and straightened some pencils and paper on his desk, not that they were out of line, but just because he wanted to do something with his hands.

Eames and Arthur had met several years ago; Cobb had bought them together for a simple extraction job. At least, it should have been, Eames had played around too much in the subject's mind and the projections had converged on them and they had woken up before they could extract any useful information from the subject's subconscious. Arthur sighed, this job was complicated enough, and he didn't need Eames as a distraction.

Arthur looked up as the door slid opened. Cobb stepped in carrying three cups of coffee; he was followed by a solid man wearing a tweed suite 'Arthur darling!' he called across the warehouse, Arthur sighed, why hadn't Cobb listened? Why would he even consider Eames as a forger? Because he was the best, said a voice in the back of his head, just like you. Arthur sighed again and stared at his computer, his job was to research and he wasn't going to let Eames get in his way. Not now, not ever; he glanced up and saw Eames leaning over him and reading his computer screen 'Do you mind?' he snapped at Eames as Cobb put the coffee on his desk

Eames smirked 'Not at all darling'

Arthur sighed and continued with his work, tapping at the keyboard and taking notes. Eames smirked and left him too it, approaching Cobb and enquiring about the job.

It was getting late and Arthur was very tired. He began to shuffle his papers and organise what he needed to take back to his apartment when Eames shouted 'Arthur! Sweetie! Would you be so kind as to give me a lift home darling?'

Cobb raised an eyebrow and looked at Arthur for his response, daring him to say no

'Sure' came Arthur's soft reply, he regretted it immediately, a confined space with Eames, joy. But Cobb had dared him and he had never backed down from such a thing before.

'Thank you darling!' he called back

'We're leaving now!' shouted Arthur

'Ready when you are' replied Eames

Cobb ran his hands through his hair 'Could you two please stand next to each other when you want to talk? Instead of distracting the rest of us?'

Arthur grimaced and collected his things, slid them neatly into his bag and straightened his already perfectly straight jacket. 'Come along, Mr. Eames' he called as he walked past Eames' desk

'Coming darling' whispered Eames

Arthur shivered, although he wasn't entirely sure why. The pair walked towards the massive warehouse door ''Night' said Ariadne as they walked past, Arthur could have been mistaken, but he swore he saw her smirking, same for Yusaf and Cobb. Arthur frowned in confusion, and then dismissed it as his imagination.

It started to rain. Just as they stepped outside, it started to pour. Eames was wearing a white shirt and it almost immediately turned translucent, Arthur tried not to look at the rippling muscles that lay underneath, but he glanced over on too many times and Eames took notice and a small smirk began to take shape on his handsome face. They climbed into Arthur's car and Arthur started the engine and glanced across at Eames' perfect torso 'You like, darling?' smirked Eames

Arthur raised his eyebrows and pulled into the oncoming traffic 'Where am I taking you too?'

'No in a playful mood today sweetie?'

'Where to, Mr. Eames?'

'Not liking this much at all are we darling?'

'Mr. Eames' there was a hint of warning in his voice, but Eames either missed it or ignored it

'Darling, honestly...' he began

'Listen Eames,' Arthur pulled into an alleyway 'I don't like you, I tried so hard to stop Cobb from bringing you into this job and now that you're here I'm not happy about it. Ok? Are we clear?'

'Crystal darling' said Eames, a smirk forming on his smug face. Arthur stared him straight in the eyes and, before he could react, Eames' hand was behind his head, pulling him into a kiss. At first Arthur didn't know what to do...this was Eames, a man who he had hated most of his life and yet had always felt drawn to, and now...he could feel Eames lips softly crushing his and he decided to kiss back, perhaps it would get Eames off his back.

The pair stayed at Arthur's place that night. Eames stayed on the couch, Arthur made point of that; he wasn't going to have Eames getting into his pants that fast. Arthur slowly drifted off to sleep, only to be awoken by a knock at the door, he slipped out of bed and made his way, slowly, to the door of his apartment. Only to discover Eames already at the door and talking to Cobb, Arthur stood just within view range, then realised his mistake. He and Eames were both shirtless and Cobb was left to his imagination, a place Arthur had been, and not necessarily enjoyed. Cobb smirked when he saw both the men and then said 'There's been a hiccup, we need you back at the warehouse'

'Let us get dressed first Cobb' said Arthur, then realised how wrong it sounded, he shook his head and Cobb laughed. Arthur hurried back to his bedroom and quickly, but neatly pulled on one of his many suits and returned to the main entrance, only to find Eames and Cobb chatting and laughing, with Eames still only half dressed. 'I thought you said there was a hiccup?' asked Arthur pointedly, it was taking every ounce of his considerable self control to stop himself from staring at Eames' body.

'I did' answered Cobb 'Eames, perhaps you should get dressed, it seems Arthur's struggling'

Arthur frowned quizzically at him 'You forget how well I know you, Arthur' Cobb explained, Eames smirked as he pulled on a shirt 'Yes, he seemed to struggle a lot when we were in the car, didn't you darling?' by now Arthur was flame red, he was so close to storming out the door, but then decided no good would come of it and remained standing there until Eames was fully dressed.

The trio was silent on the way to the warehouse. Ariadne had driven Cobb to Arthur's and Cobb had insisted that Arthur and Eames sit in the back, much to Eames' delight. Arthur was beginning to become increasingly irritated (was it irritated?) with the way Eames was acting towards him, lightly touching his hand, brushing against his leg and leaning into him around the corners were going unnoticed by Ariadne and Cobb, but were practically being screamed in Arthur's face. Everytime he went to insult Eames about it he would receive this charming smile as if to say 'Yes Darling, I know, but what are you going to do about sweetie?' he could almost hear Eames' smug, British voice in his head. Arthur ran his hand through his well gelled hair and sighed 'What was the hiccup?' he asked Cobb, hoping it was something serious and that he didn't get embarrassed and out of bed for no reason. 'Saito wants an update on the progress and you have all the research, we have the job in two days and he wanted it now'

'So not so much a hiccup as an impatient business man?'

'Also' This time it was Ariadne who spoke 'I have a problem with the hotel maze and Cobb can't look at it, Ysuf is a chemist and doesn't know what I'm on about and Saito is all formal and ignorant'

'Right, so what's the problem?' asked Eames

'I can't find a paradox large enough for the exterior of the building'

'Why do you need one for the outside?' enquired Eames as he ran his hand up Arthur's leg, pretending to tie his shoelace

'To finish the maze'

Arthur frowned at Eames, and then at the problem 'Fischer shouldn't be leaving the hotel'

'But what if he does?'

'The dream will be created from his own subconscious' answered Cobb

'Would you still take a look at it?' There was an anxious tone in her voice, Arthur had classed her as a perfectionist, not dissimilar to himself, the only difference being that he wasn't an extravert; she required people's approval whereas he preferred to do his own thing. Arthur smirked 'Sure' he replied, his mind starting to wander as he looked out at the overcast, slightly drizzly night. His train of thought was broken, however, when he felt Eames' hand creeping up his leg. His head snapped around and he scowled at Eames, who gave him a broad grin in return, they finally pulled up to the warehouse and Arthur practically jumped out of the car. He hurried inside, closely followed by Cobb, Ariadne and the Eames, who still had the smirk on his face. 'Ah' came a voice from the pile of test tubes 'You're here' Saito emerged from Ysuf's desk 'Ysuf was telling me about the sedative, now gentlemen, what are the plans?'

'Well,' began Cobb and with that the rest of them zoned out until their name was called and they presented to Saito their aspect and/or layer of the inception.

Arthur had tried to slip away from Eames, but the man was impossible to avoid. He took a seat at the back of the warehouse, only to discover Eames had snuck up on him and was seated right next to him. He had tried to move, but Cobb had already started his speech and everyone else was silent, any noise would have been extremely obvious. Eames leaned back lazily in his chair, his eyes half closed, Arthur barely noticed his hand resting on his leg, besides, there wasn't much he could do about it.

It became a game after that. Eames and Arthur would always sit next to each other and Eames would see how far he could get his hand up Arthur's leg before he would excuse himself and go to the bathroom, leaving Eames struggling to contain his laughter. The pair became very good friends, they would always work together, always cross reference every piece of work and more often than not, stay at each other's apartments. This didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the team, and as they sat round, discussing the job, they somehow ended up talking Arthur and Eames 'What do you think, Cobb?'

Cobb stared into his coffee and shrugged 'None of my business'

Ariadne piped up 'I think it's cute'

'What's cute?' asked Ysuf 'They're just friends'

Cobb smirked, he was amused at how oblivious the chemist was to the flourishing relationship

'What?' snapped Ysuf, noticing Cobb's smirk

'Nothing...' trailed Cobb

'Oh come on, it's obvious,' said Ariadne 'They're together'

Ysuf snorted into his tea 'I don't know if you've noticed, but Eames is pretty much as masculine as you can get'

'Doesn't mean he isn't gay'

'Masculine usually includes heterosexual' he pointed out

Cobb looked at them both 'It's none of our business'

Ariadne sighed, letting the silence lapse between the group. After a few minutes Ariadne said 'So, what do you think Cobb?'

'I'm happy for them, if they are together'

'What do you mean?'

'I've known both of them long enough to know that they aren't together'

'Really?' there was a slight interest in her voice

'Yes, really, they're both as straight as anything'

'Eames yes,' said Ysuf 'Arthur, hmmm, maybe'

'Maybe?' Ariadne was enjoying this way too much, thought Cobb

'Yes, maybe, have you seen the way he dresses? Have you ever seen him out of a suit?'

'No, but lots of men wear suits'

'Have you ever seen anything of his out of place?'

'No'

'Nothing messy?'

'No'

'My point'

'Yes, but I'm sure plenty of men are neat and wear suits' argued Ariadne

'But not all of them spend most of their time with another man'

'True,' Ariadne thought about this 'Thank you for proving my point' she stared pointedly at Cobb

'I still maintain they're straight'

'Nope'

'Yep'


	2. Chapter 2

Arthur looked over Ariadne's shoulder, examining the maze she had been seeking approval on. 'I can't see any problems with it, the level is definitely complex enough' he complemented

'Are you sure? I mean, I have no paradox for the exterior of the building'

Arthur sighed, she still hadn't got her head around unconstructed dream space or building things without paradoxes, just as mazes 'It'll be fine, if Fischer leaves the building the dreamer can create from there and he'll fill it with his subconsciousness'

Ariadne looked at him, unconvinced; but shrugged. He'd been doing this longer than she had; she decided to go with it. 'Hey Arthur' she started as he had turned to leave. It was getting late. He swivelled around

'Yes'

'I was just wondering,' she started going red. Arthur frowned, she wasn't...? 'What's with you and Eames?'

Arthur looked taken aback, he hadn't noticed the teams increasing suspicions. He was silent for a while, thinking how to best reply to the confrontation. 'We...we're...' he'd never been good at this sort of thing 'Nothing' he said finally.

'Okay' shrugged Ariadne, still slightly embarrassed, but smirking. Of course he was lying.

'Darling!' shouted Eames across the warehouse 'If you wouldn't mind, I need you to look at something and then we can go home!'

Arthur shook his head as smirks appeared unanimously across every team members face, including Ysuf's.

On the way back to Arthur's, Eames smiled broadly. 'What is it?'

'Nothing' he said, arrogance almost a song in his voice

'What?' asked Arthur flatly, not once taking his eyes off the road

'The jobs tomorrow'

'Yes' Arthur still hadn't made the connection 'So?'

'Then we can do what we like'

It clicked. 'Oh' he said, he hadn't thought of it like that. After the job was, well, after the job. Pack up and leave. Go Stateside. Like he'd planned to before being swept up into Cobb's hopes and, in this case, dreams. Eames hadn't been apart of his life then.

'Oh?' said Eames, his voice sounded hurt 'All I get is an oh?'

'I hadn't thought that far ahead' covered Arthur, not sounding at all convincing. He cursed himself for being such a bad liar. 'What did you have in mind?' he asked Eames

'Go somewhere together' his smile had evaporated and his voice contained almost audible tears

Arthur smiled, somewhere private with Eames, a month ago he would have dreaded the idea; now he relished it. 'Where?' asked Arthur, now smiling

Eames noticed this and unfolded himself from the slouch he had adopted 'Somewhere warm'

Arthur smiled more broadly 'Straight from France?'

Eames nodded, looking out the window at the clear skies. It had rained for most of the day, but the night had swept the clouds away; leaving stars in their place.

That was the night Arthur let Arthur into his pants. The pair didn't get any sleep that night, but neither minded and when the morning crept through the curtains, they laid next to each silently. Eames ran his hand up and down Arthurs side, caressing the shape of his lanky body in comparison to his own. Arthur smiled at him 'Big day today' he whispered, his mind already on the job

'Mmm' mumbled Arthur

'Then somewhere warm' he smiled

Eames smiled in return; almost jumping when there was a knock at the door. Arthur laughed as Eames' hand pressed down on his waist in surprise, he slipped out of bed and threw some clothes on. 'Stay here, Mister Eames, we can't have a repeat of our first night'

Eames smirked, laying with his hands behind his head 'Don't be long, darling'

Arthur opened the door to Cobb, he was pacing along the apartment building's expensively carpeted floor. 'Arthur, the flight leaves in five hours, are you packed? We need to leave now; it's going to take us two hours to get there in this' he indicated the window; a traffic jam, caused by a large semitrailer crashing into a lamppost was backing up the main streets. Arthur simply nodded and turned, waving Cobb in. 'Are you alright, Arthur?' Cobb asked, struggling to contain a smile, as Arthur walked back to his room to change and get his suitcase

'Fine' he replied, confused 'Why?'

'You seem to be hobbling a little'

Arthur took a quick breath, was it that obvious? 'Just hurt my knee climbing the stairs yesterday'

'Of course'

Arthur again cursed himself for his poor fabricating skills and hurried to his room, where Eames still lay 'We have to leave' he explained to Eames, who was still laying in the bed

'Why? It's only half past six, the flight's not until eleven, at least'

'There's a traffic jam, we need to leave now if we're going to get to the job on time' he explained as he pulled his beige suit pants on, not looking at Eames.

'We'd better be quick then' he said, as Arthur felt a pair of muscular arms slip around him and lips kiss the back of his neck. 'Eames' gasped Arthur, feeling Eames' hands drop below his waist and into his pants 'We have to go'

'Very well' his hands made one last motion that caused Arthur to groan and he stepped away 'Wouldn't want to miss our flight'

The pair got dressed quickly and, gathering their suitcases, headed down the hall. Only too late did Arthur realise his error; as they stepped into the living room; Cobb turned to see the two men together. 'Nice to see you found a place to stay, Mister Eames'

Eames smiled 'Yes, Arthur has been most hospitable'

Cobb returned his smile 'I'm sure'

Arthur frowned at them both, this time giving into his urge to storm out the door. Cobb and Eames smiled at each other and followed after him.


	3. Chapter 3

The drive to the airport was long and monotonous. The only comfort that the team found was the fact that they'd be in first class in a couple of hours; and asleep. Arthur was in a deep discussion with Ariadne, reassuring her that her mazes would be complex enough and explaining what she had not yet grasped. Eames was left to his own thoughts, where would they go after this? Would they seek out more work without Cobb? Or go abroad as Eames had fantasised? Ysuf and Saito were discussing the relative merits of sleeping during flights and Cobb was doing his usual silent death stare at the traffic, the look was permanent when he drove.

After an eternity they got through customs and were seated on the flight. Fischer was in the seat in front of Cobb and Cobb was preparing to do some smooth talking and return the stolen passport. Arthur and Eames were seated across from each other, as the flight took off, they looked at each other and Eames smiled; blowing Arthur a kiss. Arthur rolled his eyes, but a smile crept across his face as the team leaned back for take-off.

Once inside the dream there was no time for flirting. Fischer had to picked up immediately, to give Eames more of a chance at cracking him. As the team arrived at the warehouse; broken and battered after being attacked by Fischer's private army and Cobb and Ariadne being hit by a cargo train, Eames had little time to forge his way into Fischer's mind. Arthur stood waiting as Eames prepared himself, taking a photo from Ysuf of a young boy blowing a paper windmill. As Ysuf left, Arthur touched Eames' shoulder 'Good luck' he said, in all seriousness; if this didn't work, they all went to jail for a very long time. Eames held Arthur's hand, pressing it against the rippling muscle of his shoulder. It was show time.

After Eames had done his bit, the reinforcements were hitting the warehouse hard. Many were carrying machine guns and all had very good aim. Arthur stood in the doorway, a machine gun of his own in his hands, attempting to take out one of the soldiers behind a power supply. He felt Eames behind him and a smug voice say 'You musn't be afraid to dream a little bigger darling', Arthur turned to see the muscular man holding a rocket launcher over his shoulder; firing it, and blowing up the power supply. Arthur shrugged, admiring the work of mass destruction, and followed Eames back to the van. Time to go under again.

This time Arthur was under threat. He was the dreamer, and with Cobb wanting to run with Mr. Charles, he was under serious risk of being purged by Fischer's subconscious. He sat with Ariadne in the lobby and watched Cobb stride past, hoping to high heaven that Mal didn't come bursting through. Eames exited a few moments later, although not as Eames, but as an attractive woman in a red dress; winking at Arthur as she walked past 'Was that Eames?' asked Ariadne

'Yeah' Arthur watched as Eames left his line of sight

'How come he can look like that?'

'Because he's manipulating Fischer's consciousness, it takes a very skilled person to physically alter their appearance, but it only takes a forger to change their appearance in someone's mind's eye'

'Does she actually exist?'

'Maybe' Arthur detected something in Ariadne's voice 'Why?'

'No reason' she replied, blushing profusely

Arthur smiled and looked around 'We have to leave' he said, taking her arm 'Cobb'll need help in a minute'

'Security's going to run you down hard' said Arthur as he lay on the floor

'And I will lead them on a merry chase' replied Arthur suavely 'Goodnight, Mr. Eames' he said as he watched his eyelids droop and eventually close. He hastily left the room, locking the door behind him and began to make his preparations for the security 'run down'.

Eames chased the soldiers in the white cameo. He needed to stop them getting back to the hospital, or else this was over for good. The soldiers paid him no mind, as though he didn't exist...Bugger this, he thought and unpinned a grenade; launching it at the largest vehicle. Then Eames woke up.

The explosion had forced him to jump to back to the hotel level. He shifted with the gravity and attempted to stand up, but Ysuf's driving nearly knocked him off his feet again. After a galliant climb to the door, Eames opened it only to see Arthur and another man tumble past; throwing desperate punches and grappling for Arthur's gun. Eames floated quietly forward and snatched the gun from midair, shooting the other man as soon as he had the chance. 'Really darling, I thought I was the only one' he said as Arthur turned to see his saviour

'There were...complications' he replied, in his usual neutral manner

'I'm su..' Eames stopped and looked down

He was bleeding.


	4. Chapter 4

Eames stumbled to his knees and coughed up blood. Arthur was quickly at his side and had him resting on his own knees; holding the bleeding wound. Eames was breathing heavily 'I'll be fine darling' he coughed

'You'd better be' he said, tears coming to his eyes. He blinked them and regained his head 'Can you walk? I have a medical pack in my briefcase'

Eames struggled to his feet, with much help from Arthur; and they slowly made their way to room 491, Eames slowly collapsing the whole way there.

The carpet and sheets were stained with blood. Arthur had only just managed to drag Eames through the door and had him laying on the bed with his short open. Arthur measured out various lengths of bandages 'Sit up' he ordered Eames. Eames simply groaned, Arthur was forced to push the almost limp body of Eames into a seated position and begin wrapping bandages around his waist and chest. The bandages soaked rapidly an Eames began to slump backwards and Arthur gently hit his face 'Stay awake' he ordered, Eames' eyes began to close 'Awake!' he shouted and the muscular man's eyes gently fluttered opened.

The music kicked in.

'We're almost out' whispered Arthur gently, holding the detonator for the bombs in the floor above and waiting for the kick.

'Goodbye,' whispered Eames, and slumped and whispered 'darling'

Arthur woke up on the plane. He blinked several times before looking around at everyone else, Ariadne, Ysuf and himself were the only members awake. Saito and Cobb lay lifeless, still asleep and...Eames...Arthur undid his seatbelt and hurried over to the sleeping man. 'What happened?' asked Ariadne

'Eames died in the hotel' explained Arthur, pulling the cord from the sedative suitcase 'I'm going to get him'

'Arthur,' said Ysuf 'He's in limbo with Cobb and Saito, they'll find him'

'They don't know he's down there'

Arthur returned to his seat and ordered 'Turn it on'

He fell asleep.

He got washed up a shoreline. The waves broke all around him, forcing him further up the shore and onto to the sandy beach. It's quite beautiful here, he thought, standing up and looking around at the decaying buildings that ran up the edge of the beach. What was I here to do...He wondered as he began to walk towards the buildings. It was something important. Something to find, something I needed to go away with. Then it hit him. Eames. He hadn't been awake on the plane. He was in limbo, and he'd come to get him.

He ran towards the buildings, the sand crumbling under each of his steps. He hit concrete, the first of the buildings loomed around him; he felt more like he was in an inescapable cage than anything else. He kept running, methodically finding his way up and down each line of buildings. No Eames. He stopped when he came across a series of buildings on the water, each with an individual walkway. There was a new building at the end, new in the sense it hadn't fallen apart yet. It was his apartment block. Arthur sprinted towards it, his shoes getting slightly wet as the dark water lapped at his feet. He flung the door open and bounded up the stairs, taking them three at a time.

He eventually reached his apartment door and, opening it, saw Eames lying on the couch; quite peacefully. 'Eames' ventured Arthur quietly

'Yes darling' replied Eames, swinging his legs around and sitting up 'Are we going?'

'Yes, we are' said Arthur, so relieved he was fighting back tears.

Eames got up and walked over to him 'Shall we then?'

Arthur nodded and the pair went to the beach and held each other underwater until they died.

They woke up on the plane. Arthur looked across at Eames and smiled lovingly. Eames frowned and smiled back, looking confused. Arthur realised, he must have been in limbo for a long time; years even, because of the sedative in Ysuf's formula. He'd forgotten things. He'd forgotten things...he'd forgotten... no, don't think about it, thought Arthur, talk to him when you get off the plane. That wasn't long. The team had been asleep for most of the flight and the plane landed shortly after Arthur and Eames had woken up.

At baggage collection Arthur approached Eames. 'Are you feeling okay?' he asked

'Absolutely fine, I'm thinking I'll head back to Mombasa after a couple of weeks...I actually miss it there darling' replied Eames, smiling

'Right, okay' Arthur smiled falsely as his heart sank inside him. He'd taken too long. Eames didn't remember things from before the job. He was one of them. 'Sounds good' he said

'What about you, Arthur?'

'Stateside' he said bluntly

'I meant are you okay?'

'Fine, glad we got the job done and Saito's okay' he lied

Eames nodded, he felt like he was missing something.

'I guess I'll see you when Cobb decides to haul us all together again'

Eames smiled again, but looked confused. Arthur walked off to customs, his heart in his shoes and his stomach doing somersaults. For a man he'd hated a few months ago, the thought of leaving him was physically painful. Arthur continued outside to the taxi ranks, when he felt a warm hand around his waist.

'Hello darling' came Eames' deep, British voice 'I say we get a cab and find a room'

Arthur's heart leapt. Eames remembered. He turned around 'How?'

Eames smiled 'I saw that gorgeous arse walking away and suddenly it all made sense'

Arthur raised his eyebrows 'Subtle' he said

Eames kissed him. On the lips. Not passionately, or forcefully, but lovingly; as though he was going to kiss those lips every day. Arthur leaned in, caring little for the stares of others. 'I agree' he said 'let's get a room'.


End file.
